Aromatic device



March 9, 1954 H D, CONNER 2,671,688

Y AROMATIC DEVICE Filed Jan. 5, 195o ATTORNEY Patented Mar. `9, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ica -AEOMATIC DEVICE Harold D. Conner, Wichita, Kann.

Application January 5, 1950, Serial No. 137,019

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in articles that evolve vapors or gases.A More particularly this invention relates to an improved article that evolves gases or vapors to condition the air adjacent that article.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved article that evolves vapors or gases to condition the air adjacent that article.

l It is customary in many homes and some businesses to place moth-repellent materials, usually in pellet form, in porous containers, such as perforated boxes or fabric bags, and to place those containers in closets or rooms where clothing is kept. 'I'he moth-repellent material will evolve gases or vapors which will repel the moths and thus protect the clothing. As long as the containers have appreciable quantities of mothrepellent material in them, the clothing is likely to be safe; but when the moth-repellent material has evaporated, the clothing is likely to be attacked by moths. The perforated boxes and fabric bags are usually made of opaque material, and thus the quantity of moth-repellent material available at any instant can only be determined by opening the boxes or bags. It frequently happens, through thoughtlessness or neglect, that periodic inspections of the amount of mothrepellent material in the' boxes or bags are not made, and that the moth-repellent material evapcrates long before that fact is discovered. As a result, the clothing that was intended and believed to be protected by the moth-repellent material is often attacked by moths. This-is objectionable. The present invention obviates this objection by providing a molded block of moth-repellent material that does not need to be placed within a perforated box or fabric bag. Such a block will be visible at all times, and will substitute vision for memory. Consequently, the need for a new block of moth-repellent material will be noted in ample time to permit a replacement block to be secured. In this way, the clothing need never be unnecessarily exposed to attack by moths. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a molded block of moth-repellent-material that does not need 0 be placed within a perforated box or fabric The block of moth-repellent material provided by the present invention has a supporting hook embedded within it. This hook permits the. block to be suspended in full view, and it provides a simple and neat way of supporting the block. The hook has a generally vertical portion extending through the block and a generally horizontal portion adjacent the bottom of the block.

The horizontal portion of the block makes ceru tain that the block can not become separated from the hook. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a block of mothrepellent material which has a hook embedded therein; such hook having a generally horizontal portion adjacent the base of said block.

Where moth-repellent material in pellet form is used, the rate of evolution of vapors or gases decreases steadily as the surface areas of the pellets decrease. This decrease in the rate of evolution of vapors or gases is objectionable because ifv the initial rate of evolution was just right the final rate will be insuiilcient, and if the final rate of evolution is just right the initial rate is wastefully excessive. The present invention obviates this diiiiculty by providing a block of moth-repellent material which has a fixed rate of evolution of gases or vapors. That block is enabled to have a fixed rate of,evolu tion by having a uniform cross section, and by being confined within an air-resistant envelope that is open only 'at one end. With such an arrangement air can contact only one surface of the block, and that surface will retain the same dimensions until the block has fully vaporized. In this way, the block of moth-repellent material can be dimensioned to provide an optimum rate of evolution, and it will then maintain that rate of evolution unchanged. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a moth-repellent block of uniform cross section that is confined within an impervious envelope open only at one end.

By having the generally horizontal portion of the hook adjacent one end of the block, and by having the air-resistant envelope for the block open only at the other end, the portion of the block which surrounds that horizontal portion will be the last portion of the block to vaporize. This makes certain that the block receives full and complete support from the hook as long as any appreciable portion of that block remains in the solid state.

The air-resistant envelope for the block serves two additional purposes. It protects the block against vaporization during storage prior to use. and it acts as an indicator. The air-resistant envelope obviates any need for a supplementary package; that envelope being an attractive, protective covering. In addition, that envelope will, when the block of moth-repellent material has fully vaporizedA fall away from the hook. The absence of that envelope from its usual place will be obviously apparent to the eye, and prompt replacement of the block should follow.

It is frequently desirable to use perfumed blocks 3 of vaporizable material in connection wi plumbing facilities. One difficulty experienced with such blocks is breakage; and when a break occurs in those blocks. parts of the blocks and -parts of their supports can pass into the drain and form obstructions. Removal of such ob# structions often leads to `expensive plumbing work. In addition, the violent agitation of water experienced in the bowls of the Vplumbing facilities frequently causes water to splash upon the blocks and causes portions of the blocks to dissolve; an-objectionable waste of those portions of the blocks. In addition, much of the effect of these blocks is lost because the perfumed air is recurrently drawn down-the drain as the plumbing facilities are used. Moreover, such perfumed blocks and the supports therefor are usually unsightly. For these reasons, prior perfumed blocks and the supports therefor are objectionable. The present invention obviates these objections by providing a perfumed bloclr` which can be suspended within the water chests of plumbing facilities. That block is largely" hidden from view, it is not exposed to splashed water since the water in the water chests is not y 4 Fig.2isape`rspective viewoftheblockshown inliig.1,anditshowsthatblockwiththetop` "showing the block of" 4 in position atop the edge of that chest.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral I generally denotes a hook around which a block of vaporizable material can be molded. 'I'he hook '1 I0 has a generally semi-circular portion Il at the top thereof which isv dimensioned to nt over a clothes-supporting pole of a closet or room.

`vDepending downwardly from the semi-circular .portion` I2 of the hook I0 is a vertically-directed subject to violent agitation, the perfumed air" will not be lost down the drain but will be pumped out into the room by the rising and falling water level in the water chests. and those blocks Twill merely fall to the bottom of the water chests not down the drain, if those blocks were ever to break. It is therefore an object of the present straight portion I4; and a generally horizontal portion I8 extends transversely from that verti- ,cally-directed portion I8. The hook III is preferably made from one piece of metal, but obviously it could be made from a number of pieces suitably 'l' joined together. Integrally associated with the invention to provide a perfumed block that can# be supported in the water chests of plumbingy facilities.

The perfumed blocks provided by the present hook I0, as by molding or casting, is a generally cylindrical block I8 of a vaporizable material. Thefblock I8 is conveniently formed by setting the .hook I0 in a mold and casting molten material around it. One such material is paradichlorobenzene, and it acts as a moth-repellent.

invention have hooks embedded within them, and those hooks are inclined to the axes of those" blocks. Horizontally extending portions are formed on the lower ends of those hooks, and those portions are adjacent the bottoms of the blocks. With this arrangement, the horizontal portions of the hooks will be spaced away from the sides of the water chests; and such spacing will isolate the portions of the blocks, on those portions of the hooks, from the sides of the water chests. This is desirable since the sides of the water chests are usually heated by the air within the room and will provide more rapid vaporization of the portions of the blocks immediately adjacent those sides. As a result. the portions of the blocks adjacent the horizontal portions of the hooks will be the last to vaporize, and thus the blocks will be fully supported until completely vaporized. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide perfumed blocks with hooks embedded therein that have horizontal portions at the lower ends of inclined portions.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from an examination of the drawing and accompanying description.

In the drawing and accompanying description two preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown and described but it is to be understood that the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose of illustration only and do not limit the invention and that the invention will be defined by the appended claim.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a block that is made in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention, and it shows that b ock with its air-resistant envelope wrapped tis `lily around the block,

The paradichlorobenzene can be poured into aluminum molds. permitted to set around hooks I0 placed in those molds, and 'then freed from those molds by inverting and mildly heating those molds.

The block I8 encircles and surrounds most of the straight portion I4 of the hook I0 and all of the transversely-extending portion I8 of that hook. The block I8 terminates short of the semicircular portion II of the hook III. The block I8 is encased and enclosed by an envelope Il' of air-resistant, moisture-resistant, heat sealing transparent material. One such material is M. S. T. cellophane made by the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company. That material is wrapped around the block I8, and then the portions of that material which project outwardly beyond the bottom of the block Il are folded flat against that bottom. The portions of the material which project outwardly beyond the top of the block I8 are twisted tightly around the hook Il.

Thereafter a hot iron is passed along the free edge of that material and across the part of that material which covers the bottom of the block I8. That material will respond to the hot iron and to the twisting of its upper end to provide an air-resistant, moisture-resistant envelope 28 for the block I8.

When prepared in this manner, the block I8 is a neat, self-contained article that can be kept for months without any appreciable loss In weight due to the evolution of gases or vapors. The block can be set upright on its bottom, laid upon its side, or supported on its hook, as desired.

When the block I8 is to be used, it is only necessary to twist the upper ends of the material forming envelope 2l and lift those ends upwardly and expose the top surface of the block I8. The sides and bottom of the envelope 28 will be disturbed; thus air can contact only the top of the block I8. That block has a uniformv cross section throughout its length, and the air will always contact the same amount of surface of the block Il. This provides a uniform rate of evolution of gases or vapors. and makes proper dimensioning of the block possible.

The gases or vapors from the 4block I8 will, due to their miscibility with air, pass outwardly from the open upper end of the envelope 20 and ll the closet or room. In doing so, those gases or vapors will act to repel moths. With the passage of time, usually two to three (23) months, the block I8 will vaporize almost completely. All during this time the envelope 2l will remain in coaxial relation with the hook I0, as by being held by the lower part of block I8; and that envelope will keep the vaporization rate constant. When the block I8 finally vaporizes completely, the envelope 20 will fall downwardly away from the hook I0, and its absence will indicate the need for replacement of the block I8. Fig. 3 shows a block I8 as it would appear a week or so before the material of that block is fully vaporized. As Fig. 3 shows, the amount of material in block I8 that is still to be vaporized is readily visible through the envelope 20, and a replacement block can be obtained in good time. The old block will continue to protect the clothes until such time as that part of the material of the block which surrounds the transverse portion I8 evaporates and the envelope 20 falls to the iloor.

Until the upper ends of the envelope 20 are loosened, as shown in Fig. 2, that envelope will largely prevent vaporization of the material in the block Il. Once the upper end of the envelope 20 has been opened, as shown in Fig. 2, the material in the block I8 will automatically begin to vaporize at the desired rate; and it will continue to vaporize at that rate until fully vaporized. This is in sharp contrast to prior vaporizable materials.

The numeral 22 generally denotes a hook which can be used to support a perfumed block 32. The

hook 22 has a horizontally-directed portion 24 anda vertically-directed portion 28. As indicated particularly in Fig. 5, the horizontally-dlrected portion 24 overlies the upper edge of a water chest 28, and the vertically-directed portion 28 of the hook 22 extends down the outside of that water chest. The hook 22 has an inclined portion 28 which terminates in a transversely-directed portion 30. The inclined portion 28 carries the transversely-directed portion 28 inwardly and away from the sides of the water chest 28 and thus spaces that portion from those sides of that closet. This is desirable because those sides will be heated by the air within the room and will tend to speed up the vaporization of material adjacent them.

A block 32 of perfumed material with antiseptic properties, as for example, a block of perfumed paradichlorobenzene, is cast or molded integrally with the inclined portion 38 and the transversely extending portion 30 of the hook 22. The material of this block will, when per-y mitted to vaporize, provide a pleasantly sweetened air which has some antiseptic properties.

During storage and shipment, the block 32 will be encased within an air-resistant, water-resistant envelope 34: that envelope preferably being M. S. T. cellophane made by the E. I. du- Pont de Nemours Company. That material is wrapped around the block 32 after that block has been formed integrally with the hook 22; and that material is held in assembled relation with that block by passing a hot iron along the 6 free edge and folded bottom of that material.

The top of the material is then twisted around the horizontally directed portion 24 of the hook 22 with sufiicient tightness to prevent loss of gas or vapor from the block.

To use the block 32', the envelope 34 will be partially or completely removed and the hook 22 will be set over the upper edge of the water chest 38 with the block 32- disposed inwardly of the sides of that water chest. The lid of the water chest 38 will be replaced then, resting upon the horizontally directed portion 24 of the hook 22 and holding that hook and the block 32 in position. Each time the water level in the water chest 38 moves downwardly, air will be drawn into the water chest and admixed with the perfumed air surrounding the block 32. When that water level rises again, the sweetened air which was admixed with the air adjacent block 32 will be pushed into the room. The more frequently the plumbing facilities are used, the more perfuming provided by the block 32. This means that the problem and its solution proceed at the same rate.

The block 32 is held within the water closet 38, and it will not ordinarily be visible to the eye. However, the presence or absence of the perfume in the room will provide adequate indication of any need of replacing the block 22. The block 32 is short enough that the bottom of the block will always be well above the surface oi the water in the chest 38. Moreover, the water in water chests is usually not violently agitated. Consequently the only loss of volume of block 32 will be dueto direct vaporization. as intended.

Whereas two preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in the drawing and accompanying description it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the form of the invention without affecting the scope thereof. e

What I claim is:

An article that is adapted to vaporize and thereby provide gases or vapors to mix with and condition the air adjacent said article and that comprises a block of vaporizable material, an envelope of flexible air-resistant material, and a hook projecting from one end of said block, one' end of said envelope being openable to .permit air to contact said one end of said block, said envelope being sealed along the side and other end of said block whereby vaporization of said block is restricted to the said one end thereof, said one end of said envelope normally being twisted about said hook but being openable to permit air to contact said one end of block.

HAROLD D. CONNER.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

